Category: garden

The Orchid Show and Sale, held every Columbus Day weekend at the US National Arboretum kicks off Saturday Oct 6 and runs through Monday. This year marks the 65th Annual Orchid Show put on by members of the National Capital Orchid Society.

The show features hundreds of orchids in bloom, the likes of which you will not see for sale at your local grocery store. And if you want to add a few of these beauties to your collection, you’ll find a sales tent with many different types of orchids for sale, and experts who can help you choose.

Here are a few photos from this years show to whet your appetite. Visiting the show and sales tent is free, so this is a great way to while away a few hours and enjoy a burst of tropical color. There are also tours and workshops to help you hone your orchid growing skills! See details and hours of operation

The U.S. Botanic Gardens show Orchid Mystique: Nature’s Triumph, in collaboration with Smithsonian Gardens, runs until April 29, 2012. This year’s exhibit observes the 100th anniversary of Japan’s gift of the cherry blossom trees to Washington, D.C., apparently by presenting our orchids around the Conservatory “in serene settings evocative of Japanese gardens to complement the thousands of orchids on display.”

Unfortunately there is not too much of a Japanese aesthetic going on(Italian style terracotta pots don’t quite cut it) other than a lovely Japanese garden, and with the hordes of tourist, serenity is in short supply. Still, there are always some beautiful orchids to observe and we’ve selected a few here to share with you.

Also on display are photographs of Images of North American native orchids from Hal Horwitz, which are really worth seeing. In that same vein, its also worth checking out an exhibit about a new national effort to restore and conserve native US orchids. Sadly, may of our own orchids are extinct or endangered in our own backyards of Maryland and Virginia.

Enjoy a dazzling display of orchids in Washington D.C this Columbus Day weekend. This fall tradition brings thousands of orchids in bloom, and visitors, to the U.S National Arboretum. There is a also a sales tent where vendors from around the nation offer many orchids that you won’t find in your local grocery store.

Members of the National Capital Orchid Society (NCOS) are also on had to give tours and answer any questions you many have on orchids. Better still, attend one of the many free orchid growing workshops offered and and then select some orchids to take home with you from our sales tent. I’ll be giving a talk on Saturday at 1.45pm on ‘5 Secrets to Great Orchid Growing;’ come find out what they are!

Admission to the show, classes, and sales tent is free! Show hours are:
Saturday 10 am – 5:00 pm
Sunday 10 am – 5:00 pm
Monday 10 am – 3:00 pm
The entrance to the Arboretum is at 24th and R Street, NE, not the New York Avenue address. For more information visit the NCOS website.

If you’re an orchid nut, and looking to to add plants to your collection, get there early on Saturday. However, there are enough orchids to suit everyone’s taste, so even if you get there later in the day, you’ll still find something you like. I found the slipper orchid pictured above left well into Saturday afternoon after the best stuff had supposedly been ‘picked over.’ Read my orchid website post on how to buy orchids so you can make your way through the sales tent like a pro. If you want to enjoy the displays, then Monday is usually the quietest day ..

New this year are special photo sessions before the show opens to the public:
Saturday, October 8, 9:00 – 10:00 am
Sunday, October 9, 9:00 – 10:00 am
Monday, October 10, 9:00 – 10:00 am

Photograph rare and exotic blooming orchids set in spectacular museum-quality displays without the worry of crowds or space to set up your tripod. The fee per session is $12 (Friends of the National Arboretum (FONA) $10). You can register on the NCOS website.

You can also sign up to become a member of the National Capital Orchid Society at the show. Meetings are held monthly at the arboretum and feature a guest speaker as well as a show table with hundreds of orchids in bloom. Here are some photos from last year’s NCOS Show to whet your appetite.

Here is an exhibit I designed for Orchid Enterprise at last year's show

Well, these garden grown roses aren’t quite houseplants but as summer winds down there is nothing quite like the last of the summer roses to remind us of glories past,and to sustain us during the bleaker days ahead. And there is no better place to take in these elegant beauties than the rose gardens at The Regent’s Park in London. I’m sure that even Violet, Dowager Countess of Grantham would wholeheartedly approve and might even stop to sniff the roses when no one was looking, as untoward as that might be…

I was traveling in northern Brazil last week–it was hot and on the dry side given that the rains had just ended a month or so ago. I try to make it a point to visit garden centers or nurseries wherever I travel to see tropical houseplants. In many cities the garden centers, or nurseries, tend to be clustered together so if you find one, you find them all! These photos were taken in Teresina, the capital of the state of Piaui in Northern Brazil.

On a recent trip to Kenya I was reminded how diverse the aloe family is–apparently there are hundred of species. And while many share a resemblance to the Aloe vera plant that we might grown as houseplants, for some aloes that grow as big as trees, the sky is literally the limit. Some of the rosettes shown are several feet across! So here are a few photos I took at the small botanical garden at the Nairobi Museum. Not all plants had tags identifying them. There were some interesting succulents too, and I’ve included those.

Made a trip to Longwood Gardens yesterday to catch the Orchid Show (and Sale!). It was a cold but sunny and crisp day and I only wish there had been more time to luxuriate in their stunning conservatory that was bedecked with orchids, but also had their customary spring floral display for those of us who are ready for spring now. And of course the famous blue poppies. From the rarefied altitudes of the Himalayas, these poppies are flow in in from Alaska to awaken from their frozen dormancy in the capable hands of Longwood horticulturists. One wonders, how ‘green’ this is, but for now, they remain a star attraction in Longwood’s spring display and one can see why. And for those of you who’re thinking they’re not really blue, remember that true blue is not found in the plant kingdom as far as I know-delphinium blue is probably as close as it gets.

Here are a few photos I took . I’ll save the orchids for another post.

Aechema 'Patricia'

iridescent blue poppies turn a lovely lavendar violet as they mature

the famous blue poppies-this was the bluest of the lot

Gorgeous displays of the rare yellow form of Clivia miniata, a South African Speices

” …go on a journey with the U.S. Botanic Garden as we explore the ways orchids have permeated the lives of people around the world. Discover orchids in arts, literature, exploration, jewelry, trade, and business. Travel the world within our Conservatory and discover how influential and magnificent orchids have been in our lives!” [from the USBG website]

Ever year, the U.S. Botanic Garden and the Smithsonian Institution Horticultural Services Division put on an great display of orchids, and this year is no exception. Many stunning specimens from the collections are on view, including ‘vintage’ orchid cultivars, some dating back to the turn of the last century. The show is free and runs through April 11 2010 at the US Botanic Gardens on the National Mall in Washington D.C.

Here are a few photos to whet your appetite!

orchid dragon

Dendrobium Merlin

Dendrbioum species

The dendrobiums pictured are mostly spring bloomers requiring a bright, cool and drier winter rest in order to produce their abundant blooms. Many beginner growers have a hard time withholding water for one to two months in order to stimulate flowering. Many of these types of dendrobiums are deciduous-they’ll drop their leaves which also prevents water loss during this ‘rest’ period. The cooler temperatures required during this rest period, about 50 F, also reduces plant growth and hence, water requirement. In fact, they will not produce any new leafy growth until warmer weather, after flowering. Remember also that ambient humidity also tends to be high enough to keep the plant pseudobulbs(long canes) from drying out

The Jardin Botanico is Bogota, Colombia, is an oasis in this city of 7 million. It has a tropical house, including one devoted to orchids which will be featured in a future post. Bogota is more than 7,000 feet above so it has a distinct flora of cooler growing plants. Since I just got back from Colombia, I thought I would throw up a few pictures to brighten up the late winter days!